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Forbes India reported that the invitations to the Reddy wedding were sent out with golden statuettes.

In the name of fostering stronger ties with India, Mrs Rinehart invited Australian politicians to be her guests at the wedding. The three Coalition MPs accepted, while Labor's then resources minister, Martin Ferguson, rejected the billionaire's offer, telling The Age in 2011 he did "not think it appropriate to attend". What was not reported at the time was the extent to which Australian taxpayers helped pay for the politicians' travel.

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Mr Joyce said he was struck by the scale of the 10,000-guest celebration. ''I must admit it was absolutely mind-blowing," he said soon after returning.

After a private jet flew him to Malaysia, Mr Joyce claimed a $5500 flight home for him and his wife from Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Joyce summarised his top five findings in the opening page of his report. The first read: "Malaysia has recently experienced high levels of economic growth, which has created urban cities comparable in wealth to cities in developed countries."

Mr Joyce's second major finding was that economic disadvantage in Malaysia remained, particularly in rural areas.

Some of the insights Mr Joyce gleaned appear to have come outside of meetings: "Proximate to Kuala Lumpur and running to Singapore are substantial freeways that would look quite in place in an Australian major capital city."

Mr Joyce completed his piece, writing: "In summary, water is wealth, housing is health and roads bring the progression of social services."

Mr Joyce defended his use of another $3600 in taxpayer entitlements, used to fly him and his wife to Perth, the day before the couple boarded a private jet to Hyderabad from that city.

A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Minister told Fairfax Media that Mr Joyce and his wife attended "a range of official meetings with business people and Senate colleagues" in Perth that day, on which he also claimed $350 in travelling allowance.

Mr Joyce's spokeswoman refused to say which senators or business people attended those meetings.

Other than for business in their own electorate, Department of Finance guidelines state that politicians' taxpayer-funded travel must relate to their parliamentary title, or party-political business in special circumstances such as a national conference.

Ms Bishop claimed a $3445 flight home to Perth from Hyderabad, also saying her trip was a "study tour".

Ms Bishop's report says she briefly attended a "formal" wedding ceremony but argues the primary purpose of her trip was to meet Indian energy and infrastructure companies with Australian interests and lists eight such meetings. Half of the meetings involved members of the wedding party's Reddy family, which includes some of India's leading industrialists and politicians.

In Ms Bishop's "overseas study" report she says three of her meetings occurred on Saturday June 11 - the day of the wedding. One of these meetings involved the bride's grandfather and Ms Rinehart's business partner, Dr G.V.K. Reddy.

Asked about her wedding day meetings, Ms Bishop said: "The wedding started at 6pm on the Saturday night. The meetings were held prior to the wedding.''

Ms Bishop said she also attended a wedding-related function on the Friday night, the same day she met two members of the Reddy family and other business executives. "I took part in meetings on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then attended the wedding and reception for under two hours in the early evening."

Ms Bishop said she had stayed in touch with "a number of the business and political contacts" she made during her visit.

Teresa Gambaro, the re-elected member for Brisbane, was the third Coalition MP to attend the Hyderabad wedding. Ms Gambaro claimed $3446 in "overseas study travel" for the trip.

The purpose of the trip, according to her report, was to observe an international development program ''that targets people from the Arunodaya area''. The report said that on June 10 she had four meetings with development groups for impoverished children, "HIV-affected families, widows, women and poor farmers".

One of the groups appeared to be associated with the family of Mrs Rinehart's business partner.

"G.K Reddy shared with us all the history and background of the ADP [Arunodaya Development Program] with a presentation on ADPs [sic] current situation strategies," Ms Gambaro wrote in her report.

A spokesman said Ms Gambaro had nothing further to add.

Three months after the wedding the GVK conglomerate bought a majority stake in Mrs Rinehart's "Alpha" coalmine in Queensland's Galilee basin for $US1.26 billion.

Pearls of wisdom

What Barnaby Joyce learnt on his taxpayer-funded stopover in Malaysia

'In summary, water is wealth, housing is health and roads bring the progression of social services.'

'Proximate to Kuala Lumpur and running to Singapore are substantial freeways that would look quite in place in an Australian major capital city.'

Malaysia has recently experienced high levels of economic growth which has created urban cities comparable in wealth to cities in developed countries.'